Pick Date: 8/02/08    Let me begin by saying Atari games rock! Games like Paperboy, Xevious, Dig Dug, and Stun Runner are among my favorites! So my friend Todd and myself go to this arcade auction on 8/02/08. To be honest with you I was expecting to go home empty handed so I even left my vehicle and got a ride up there with Todd. I figured if I had to have something, he would be able to haul it back. Todd's house, his garage, his mom's garage and his neighbors garage all have his games in them. No, Todd wasn't going to buy anything... or so I thought.

Now I am into the classics, mostly early 80's games. Well, there weren't a whole lot of classics to be found, but there was a lot of 90's and later games along with 25+ kiddie rides. I was going around checking them all out and found a great example of a late Atari game with superb graphics and gameplay. That game is Radikal bikers made in 1998. It is basically like Paperboy except all-grown up. Instead you deliver pizzas on a gas-powered scooter with some excellent 3D graphics and a rockin' musical score. The artwork on it was very attractive and in good shape. It even has scooter bike handlebars, similar to Paperboy. I was hooked, and I knew my kids would be too. I bid, someone else lost, and I won the game.

Earlier in the auction Todd won a Q*bert for his wife, or at least he says it was for her. OK, so now we have 2 games and one truck. I think we are still good. Then comes the part where the kiddie rides get auctioned off. There were a ton of these things, and Todd and myself contemplated getting one for our baby boys. One of the first couple of games went for around $400. Alright, thats already out of my price range. Then all of a sudden they all started to go around $100-$200. Now we're talking. Some angry guy got a serious case of buyer's remorse after "winning" his prize for $400 that he started screaming his kids wouldn't fit in the ride and refused to be stuck with it. Yeah, he didn't want to be stuck with a $400 item, he wanted one of those $100 ones. He basically brought the auction to a stop until he was dealt with. Anyways, after that both myself and Todd won race car kiddie rides. Now the problem. How to get 2 amusement rides and 2 arcade games home. Thankfully, friends Karen, Ann and Kent helped us get 3 of the 4 items back to Todd's house. Then I went back by myself and picked up the Radikal bikers with the 4th vehicle. It wasn't an easy task to get that thing loaded by myself but I was determined. I looked it up later and my game clocked in at 400 pounds of fat boy goodness. WOW.

Another auction in the books, a Radikal Bikers arcade game and a race car kiddie ride come home to the Vintage Vault Arcade. Now for the fun part. My kiddie ride had the most unusual startup program. When you started it, the race car said "Thank you for coming to K-mart, enjoy your ride!" Then had a motor starting sound along with engine rumble. Now I have to wonder...where did this particular kiddie ride come from? Hmmmmm........

Click on images below to view image gallery